A concerned mother in Bellevue wants more speed enforcement near her home after a speeding driver ran over their family dog and killed it in front of a group of children outside her house.
“My little girls have lost their friend…it could’ve been them.”
Katie McMahon lives near 48th on Borman Street – an otherwise quiet street. The narrow street is in a residential area, just around the corner from Pawnee Elementary School.
McMahon says her two young daughters and their neighbor friends were outside playing on the front lawn Tuesday, as they typically do on warm afternoons. McMahon was cooking dinner when her two girls ran into the house screaming.
“The girls had opened the gate to come out and he just slipped out, I mean he was a puppy, he didn't know any better. He just wanted to be with his kids,” said McMahon.
The girls said the dog, Toby, tumbled as the speeding truck ran him over. The girls said a man, who was driving the truck, along with a female passenger sped off and didn’t stop.
"I hope it was instant. Because the little girls just started screaming and they came in the house and all they could say was their name,” added McMahon.
McMahon and neighbors collected Toby’s body in a blanket, while her dad cleaned up the dog’s remains. The family then took the dog to the vet where he was cremated.
“He loved the kids so much. He was always out there when they were out there playing. He was also a mama’s boy. He loved to snuggle. And he slept with me every night and literally slept on my neck. He was just the sweetest dog. And we’re just crushed to have lost a family member,” said McMahon between tears.
The family says the hit-and-run has left them traumatized.
“They don’t realize they’ve now traumatized an entire family – just because they were in a hurry to get God knows where,” said McMahon. "My daughter was talking in her sleep last night and crying in her sleep. I wasn’t sure how they were going to be with what happened so I thought it would be better if we just stayed home today and had a quiet family day to just grieve.”
McMahon is thankful her daughters and the neighbors’ kids are okay, but says she’s lost her peace of mind over this re-occurring issue on her street.
“People speed up and down the street constantly. All the time. We're always out there watching the kids as much as we can but we also want them to have some freedom,” said McMahon.
“The worst part is that someone was that calice. They didn't even pause, didn't slow down. Didn't pause or come back around and knock on the doors and see whose dog it was or if they needed help or anything,” adds McMahon.
The family called police and attempted to file a police report but Bellevue Police said there’s nothing they can do since the family didn’t have a license plate number.
McMahon says she’d like to see more action taken by the city to get drivers to slow down, whether with more speed limit or kids playing in area street signs, or adding a speed bump.
